


Writing Our Futures Together

by littledemon66



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, Kid Fic, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, No beta we die like Kenny, Pining, Self-Indulgent, Soulmates, Swearing, Texting, Time Skips, its not a south park fic without cursing, that's what's going on here, yknow that soulmate au where you write something on yourself and it shows up on your soulmate?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25922893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledemon66/pseuds/littledemon66
Summary: When people are soulmates, they have a fated connection. When something is written on one person, the same thing will appear on the same place on their soulmate. Sometimes people are platonic soulmates, which means they will be friends for the rest of their lives. But other times, people are romantic soulmates. People can find love outside of their soulmates, but will eventually end up with each other.Each chapter is its own one-shot with a different ship in each. They're all standalone fics, so if you don't like one ship, you can still read the others.
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh
Comments: 22
Kudos: 201





	1. Down by the Creek

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverFliesInBlueSugar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFliesInBlueSugar/gifts).



> These fics were all made for my buddy's birthday. Happy birthday, Peanut! I've only known you for a few months, but damn you're great! These are for you <3

_When people are soulmates, they have a fated connection. When something is written on one person, the same thing will appear on the same place on their soulmate. Sometimes people are platonic soulmates, which means they will be friends for the rest of their lives. But other times, people are romantic soulmates. People can find love outside of their soulmates, but will eventually end up with each other._

Craig and Tweek had only really started talking in third grade after the other boys placed bets on which one of them would win in a fight. They became friends while they were stuck in the same hospital room. They lay there in their respective beds, in absolute pain from kicking the everloving shit out of each other. Craig had grabbed a pen from his bedside table and quickly wrote a message to his soulmate about what had happened on his arm.

_beat the shit out of a spaz today and now im in a hospital_

Out of the corner of his eye, Craig saw Tweek flinch and grasp at his arm, whispering something under his breath. Then he paused, slowly looking at Craig.

“Gah, Craig!” Tweek waved his arm around. “Did you write this?!”

Craig gave him a strange look, focusing on Tweek’s arm. His eyes widened in surprise. There on Tweek’s arm was the exact message that Craig had just written on his own arm. Oh shit, that made them soulmates, didn’t it?

“Huh, guess we’re soulmates then.” Craig said casually. “That’s cool.”

“‘Cool?’ That’s all you have to say!?” Tweek demanded. “This is a big deal!”

“You’ll help me cheat on tests and shit, right?” Craig asked. “I can help you cheat too.”

“Craig!” Tweek yelled. “We’re soulmates!”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Craig started to get a little annoyed. “I have a brain.”

“And this means nothing to you?!” Tweek cried out. “This is really important!”

“It just means we’re gonna be friends. I don’t know about you, but I’m not gay so…” Craig let his sentence trail off.

Tweek continued to freak out about the new development and Craig sighed, accepting his fate. Well, now he was destined to be Tweek’s friend or some shit. Craig didn’t care much for soulmates, much preferring to pick his own friends instead of letting some dumb soulmate system make decisions for him. But, looking over at Tweek, he could’ve gotten worse.

~~~~~

Throughout third grade, Craig and Tweek kept their mouths shut about being soulmates. Stan and Kyle got fawned over by plenty of people since they were platonic soulmates. Craig couldn’t be bothered to get involved in anything like that, so he liked having his soulmate a secret from everyone else.

But then fucking Clyde had to ruin everything.

Don’t get him wrong, Clyde was probably Craig’s closest friend and he loved him like a brother. But during a math test that Craig was absolutely not prepared for, Tweek was nervously writing answers on his arm for Craig. But since Clyde sat next to him and saw him glancing at his arm every few minutes, he must have assumed that Craig was hiding a cheat sheet. When their teacher was looking away, Clyde leaned over and looked at Craig's arm, accidentally seeing writing magically appear.

Before Craig could say anything, Clyde looked frantically around the room, trying to spot who could’ve been Craig’s soulmate. Then his eyes closed in on Tweek writing on his arm, and Craig knew they were done for. Thankfully, Clyde was able to keep quiet until class was over. But as soon as the bell rang and all the tests were handed in, he made a beeline for Craig.

“Craig, what the hell!” Clyde stopped him at his locker. “You never told me you found your soulmate!”

“Oh, didn’t know it was required.” Craig said, sounding as bored as possible.

“We’re bros! You have to tell me everything!” Clyde said indignantly.

“Just because you tell me everything in your life doesn’t mean I have to.” Craig threw all of his books into his locker, grabbing only what he needed for homework and shoving it into his backpack.

“So how long have you known?” Clyde asked, not once breaking eye contact with the side of Craig’s face.

“Not important.” Craig shut Clyde down as quickly as he could. “But don’t you dare tell anyone. It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“My lips are sealed!” Clyde pretended to zip his lips shut. “I won’t tell anyone!”

“You better not.” Craig warned, stiffening when he saw Tweek approaching him. “Now go away.”

“What?! Why?” Clyde whined, but looked past Craig. “Ohhhh. _That’s_ why.”

“I swear you will die by my hand someday.” Craig slammed his locker shut. Then he turned to look at Tweek. “Hey, man.”

“Hey, Craig.” Tweek was twitching a lot more than usual. Probably because of the test and the whole cheating thing.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Clyde laughed mischievously. Then he walked away, leaving Craig and Tweek alone.

“What’s, _ngh_ , up with him?” Tweek asked. “Why is he like that?”

“Eh, he found out that we’re soulmates.” Craig said nonchalantly.

“WHAT?!” Tweek screeched. Multiple people turned to look, but quickly turned away when they saw that it was just Tweek. Guess the school was used to Tweek’s semi-regular freak outs.

“Yeah, he was trying to cheat off of me and he saw your writing show up on my arm.” Craig pinched the bridge of his nose. “Relax, he said he’d keep his mouth shut.”

“And you believe that?!” Tweek grabbed at his hair, yanking on it. Craig grabbed Tweek’s hands and stopped him from pulling his hair.

“Let’s just go home, okay?” Craig dodged Tweek’s question. Honestly, he didn’t believe Clyde could keep quiet about this. He was bad at keeping secrets and always had the urge to tell at least one other person. Hopefully he only told Jimmy or Token and not the first person he sees while going home.

They left school, Tweek now twitching much more. Craig felt guilty for letting Clyde see his arm. He awkwardly pat his friend’s back reassuringly. When they made it to Craig’s house, he saw Clyde.

Craig and Clyde were neighbors, so they normally walked home together. But since Clyde left earlier, he was already at his house. Strangely enough, Clyde didn’t seem to be going inside. He was just standing outside his house, watching.

“Well, I’ll see you later.” Craig said to Tweek. “Sorry about today.”

“IT’S─” Tweek cleared his throat and lowered his volume. “It’s not your fault.”

Craig waved goodbye to Tweek and walked up to his front door. He looked to his left to see Clyde on his own front steps grinning at him. Craig stuck his middle finger up and opened his front door. He went inside his house, still wary of Clyde and his weird behavior.

He went upstairs to his room with his backpack and threw it next to his bed. He didn’t feel like doing his homework yet, so he opened Stripe’s cage and let him out. Craig sat on his bed, letting Stripe crawl on him.

“So Clyde knows.” Craig said. “Think this’ll end badly?”

Stripe squeaked, moving slightly on Craig’s lap. Then he jumped on his owner’s shirt, scrambling for purchase. Craig put a hand under Stripe to stop him from falling down. The guinea pig sat on Craig’s hand comfortably, ramming his head on his chest.

“Yeah, you’re right. My heart can handle whatever the fuck happens.” Craig nodded sagely. “You’re so smart, Stripe.”

As if he could understand, Stripe happily squeaked. But even Stripe wasn’t enough to pry Craig’s mind away from Clyde. There was no way he would be able to keep quiet. As much as he wanted to believe in his friend, Clyde wasn’t known for keeping secrets well. Craig sighed, trying to cast the thought from his mind as he played with Stripe.

~~~~~

A few months later, pretty much everyone in town knew that Craig and Tweek were soulmates. Clyde apologized over and over, saying that he only told Jimmy, Token, and Bebe. Of course Clyde would go and tell the school’s biggest gossiper and not see a problem. It really wasn’t too bad though. Sure, a bunch of people came up to him and Tweek when they were hanging out and asked them annoying questions about their relationship, but it was nothing a few insults and middle fingers couldn’t solve.

But when Craig thought things were going somewhat well, some Asian students had started showing up in school.

That’s when the whole yaoi thing started. The Asians found out that he and Tweek were soulmates and started a new trend of shipping the two together. Weirdly enough, Stan and Kyle (who were platonic soulmates as well) weren’t being shipped. Or maybe they were but it didn’t blow up as much. It made Craig feel strangely proud, even though the whole shipping thing was kinda weird. He was fine with shipping fictional characters (he was admittedly guilty of that himself), but shipping real people just made him feel uncomfortable. Of course, everyone in town began to ship them, forcing Craig and Tweek to stage a fake breakup. But after Craig gave Tweek a pep talk about acting well, Tweek had completely ruined his image, making him look like some two-timing cheater.

Tweek had apologized for it, obviously. After his parents watched the two in Craig’s backyard, they seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. Craig’s dad handed him one hundred dollars that night, giving him a talk about acceptance. So a few days later, after talking about it, Craig and Tweek started fake dating. The blond quickly dispelled any rumors about Craig’s infidelity, saying that it was all a misunderstanding and that Craig would never cheat. Surprisingly, most people bought it and Craig was no longer on the receiving end of angry glares. Well, there were still a few, but not nearly enough to bother him.

So by the middle of fourth grade, Craig and Tweek were officially dating in the eyes of South Park. It wasn’t so bad, Craig supposed. It was kind of fun being able to spend more time with his friend. As time went on, Craig and Tweek became best friends. South Park was crazy, but they got through it. From North Korea threatening to nuke them to the Buddha Boxes coming into style, Craig and Tweek got through it all. Sure, they had some ups and downs. All relationships─platonic or romantic─did. But they overcame their challenges together.

A few years went by and suddenly, they were in their first year of high school. Craig became less allergic to the concept of communication and actually began talking to people about issues. At the same time, Tweek was battling his addiction, eventually getting a therapist. Craig often went with him to therapy, sometimes even going in for sessions with Tweek. Regarding their “relationship,” Craig was used to it and didn’t really feel the need to “break up,” even though the town wasn’t as obsessed with their relationship anymore. But fake dating never worked out the way it was intended to.

During middle school, Craig found himself being attracted to guys. He used to think that maybe he hadn’t found any girls to his standards, but now he knew he wasn’t looking in the right places. The rest of the town already assumed that he was gay so the only one he had to come out to was his very own “boyfriend.” He put it off for a while, not really knowing how to say it. So he cruised through middle school without saying a word.

And to make things even more complex, he just had to fall in love with his fake boyfriend. After helping him try and overcome his addiction and seeing the progress he was making, Craig couldn’t help but catch feelings. He started finding things like Tweek’s protectiveness over him and aggression kind of cute.

So one Saturday in freshman year while he was lying in bed, Craig grabbed his phone and a pen. Knowing Tweek was working at the coffee shop and wouldn’t look at his phone, Craig clicked his pen and wrote on his arm.

_text me when you go on break_

_got smth important to tell you_

After writing the messages, Craig tossed the pen back onto his desk, trying not to move because Stripe was taking a nap on his chest. He was going to come out to Tweek first. The whole crush thing was something he could deal with later. He stayed on his phone, scrolling through social media and sending anonymous hate to Cartman for a few laughs.

About twenty minutes later, he got a text from Tweek. He stopped what he was doing and immediately opened the message.

_Tweekers: oh god what is it_

_you alone?_

_Tweekers: christ what are you about to send me_

_Tweekers: yes im alone_

_Tweekers: im in the back storeroom_

Well, here he goes. May as well make it as short and simple as possible. Craig was never one to beat around the bush anyway.

_im gay_

_like actually_

_Tweekers: wait are you serious_

_yeah thats not weird is it_

_Tweekers: NO_

_Tweekers: its not WEIRD_

_you dont like_

_hate me now or smth right?_

_Tweekers: no way man_

_Tweekers: thst would kinfa make mr a hypoCRUTE_

Wait what? Did Tweek just come out to him too? And by how many typos he made, Tweek’s hands must’ve been shaking really bad.

_cool_

_Tweekers: we’re cool?_

_yeah dude_

_guess the town was right all along_

_Tweekers: for the first time ever_

_are there a lot of customers right now?_

_Tweekers: coming over?_

_i wanna yeah_

_Tweekers: im on break for a bit so sure_

_Tweekers: not a lot of customers either_

_omw_

Craig put his phone down, softly picking Stripe up and putting him in his cage. He twitched a few times from the sudden movement but relaxed once he was in his cage. Craig pulled his signature chullo hat over his head and shoved his phone into his pocket. He left his room and walked down the stairs. His dad, who was watching TV in the living room, asked him where he was going. Craig simply answered “Tweek,” knowing that that was all he needed to say. His dad nodded and Craig left without another word.

He walked over to Tweek Bros. Coffee, taking his time. Since there weren’t many customers, he didn’t have to rush to make it before Tweek’s break was over. He opened the door to the coffee shop and a small bell jingled, alerting Tweek of his presence. Craig looked around the shop, seeing only a few customers. Then he looked at the counter, seeing Tweek in his work apron and green button-up shirt.

“Hey, Tweekers.” Craig greeted. Ever since they had started fake dating, Craig used pet names for Tweek pretty often, both in public and in private. It just sort of became a habit.

“Oh, hi Craig. You want anything?” Tweek asked, looking somewhat nervous. Over the years, Tweek had begun to mellow out and he didn’t twitch as much as he used to.

“Nah, I’m good.” Craig answered. “Just wanted to swing by and see how you were doing.”

Craig put his arm on the counter and leaned against it. Tweek’s face turned red and he looked away frantically. Craig blinked, startled by the reaction.

“You okay, honey?” Craig asked, worried about Tweek’s health. “Are you sick?”

“No! I’m fine!” Tweek argued. “Just a little hot in here!”

Craig fought to let out a scream. Yeah, Tweek definitely wasn’t sick; he was embarrassed. Holy shit, Tweek was cute when he was embarrassed. Thankfully, Craig had a great poker face so Tweek would never suspect anything. But damn, he was cute as all hell.

“So…” Craig lowered his voice so Tweek was the only one who could hear him. He leaned closer to Tweek for dramatic effect. “You’re into guys.”

“Y-Yeah.” Tweek’s face reddened further and Craig fought a snicker. “And so are you.”

Craig leaned back, internally laughing at Tweek’s reaction. It was so fun messing with him as long as he didn’t go overboard.

“Yeah, sure am.” Craig agreed. “Hey, now we don’t have to say no homo.”

“Why?” Tweek blinked blankly. “We’ve never said no homo before anyway.”

“Oh shit you’re right.” Craig said. “We’ve been mega gay this entire time. The Asian girls were right, coffee bean.”

“Don’t say that!” Tweek panicked. “They’ve been shipping a bunch of other people and I don’t want them to be right.”

“True. We’re just mega gay because we’re soulmates.” Craig teased, smiling when Tweek’s cheeks flared.

“Shut the hell your mouth.” Tweek mumbled, refusing to look at Craig. He laughed at the phrase.

It was an inside joke between Craig’s group because one time Clyde got loopy from anesthesia and couldn’t remember the phrase “shut the hell up.” So instead, when Jimmy was roasting the shit out of him, Clyde said “shut the hell your mouth.” Ever since, the group had used that when telling each other to shut up.

But anyway, it was painfully obvious that Tweek liked him. He wasn’t sure how he never saw it before because it was so easy to tell. He had no idea how the entire town saw it before he did. Well, he may as well cut to the chase.

“Hey, you wanna hang out tomorrow?” Craig asked, knowing that Tweek didn’t usually work on Sundays.

“Depends. Where are we going?” Tweek asked, looking at Craig curiously.

“Secret spot.” Craig answered evasively. “How about by the community center at, like, three?”

“You aren’t trying to kill me, are you?” Tweek took a small step back.

“Nah, that’s too much effort. Plus, I like you too much.” Craig answered honestly. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Craig walked away from the counter, holding a hand up over his shoulder to bid Tweek goodbye. Tomorrow, he was gonna tell Tweek he liked him. Best case scenario, Craig read the situation correctly and Tweek liked him back. Worst case scenario, Tweek was just embarrassed and/or sick and Craig kills himself to avoid ever facing him again. He made his way over to Stark’s Pond. He had to make sure that his mystery spot was still around.

~~~~~

The next day, Craig woke up at about 1:30pm. If he was awake for longer than necessary, he might’ve changed his mind. But he knew he couldn’t. God, he was going to tell Tweek that he liked him today. In about, Craig checked his phone, an hour and a half. He brushed his teeth and showered in record time. He got dressed in a pair of jeans and his normal blue hoodie. He left his hat on his table, telling himself he’d grab it later. Then he quickly put food in Stripe’s bowl.

Craig rushed down the stairs and found his family eating lunch. He glanced at the time: 1:56pm. He let out a sigh of relief. He took his seat at the table and began to eat.

“You’re in a rush today.” His mom commented passively. “Where are you headed?”

“He’s probably gonna do some weird shit with Tweek.” Tricia stuck her tongue out at him.

“Tricia, be nice to your brother.” His dad said robotically. God knows how many times he’s had to say that in his life. “Well, Craig? Where you headed?”

“Hanging out with Tweek. And we’re not doing weird shit.” Craig stuck his middle finger up at his sister. His mom sighed, knowing that even if she said something about being rude, it wouldn’t make a difference.

Craig took his time with lunch, still having about an hour to meet up with Tweek. By the time he was done eating, it was only 2:30pm. He went up to his room again, not wanting to look like some kind of impatient loser by being early. He opened Stripe’s cage and held him in his hands.

“Well, shit. I’m gonna tell him, Stripe. You’re my good luck charm so grant me some of that power.” Craig placed Stripe on his head. “Just dig that luck right into my brain.”

Stripe crawled on his head slowly, trying not to fall off. He dug his little nails into Craig’s head, but it didn’t hurt. He nuzzled into Craig’s hair and made a squeaking noise. He had to fight the urge to verbally “aw” at the notion. The last thing he needed was his family hearing him coo at his guinea pig. The last time he was caught cooing at Stripe was in seventh grade and they _still_ brought it up sometimes.

Craig stayed there for a few minutes, basking in the comfort of his guinea pig. He didn’t even know why he was so nervous. All he was gonna do was tell the guy he’s been fake dating for like 5 or 6 years that he caught feelings. Shouldn’t be too bad, right? Wrong, it was stressful as hell. But Craig picked Stripe up and put him back in his cage. He grabbed his hat and tugged it on, putting his phone in his pocket. It was time for him to go meet up with Tweek.

He left his room and rushed down the stairs. Without stopping to say goodbye to his family, he walked out the front door. Then he shut the door behind him and walked to the community center. It wasn’t much of a walk, only about a minute or two. Craig stood in front of the center, Tweek nowhere in sight. He checked his phone, cursing quietly when he saw that he was about 15 minutes early. Craig quickly texted Tweek, telling him that he was waiting.

He waited around for a few minutes when he saw Tweek running up to him. He looked out of breath, as if he ran the _entire_ way. Knowing him though, he probably did run the whole way.

“Hey, babe.” Craig greeted without thinking. Of fucking course he would tack a “babe” on at the end. “You ran?”

“I didn’t─” Tweek gasped for air. He never really was the athletic type unless someone lit a fire under him. Literally and metaphorically. “I didn’t wanna keep you waiting.”

“C’mon then.” Craig put his hand out. “Let’s get going.”

Tweek smiled, putting his hand in Craig’s. They began to walk past the center and the elementary school until they were close to the woods. Craig led the way, squeezing Tweek’s hand so he wouldn’t get nervous. He promised he knew the way and that there was nothing to be scared of.

“This place better be worth it or I’m gonna kick your ass.” Tweek threatened after a few minutes of walking off the beaten path.

“Trust me, honey. It’s definitely worth it. I think you’ll really like it.” Craig reassured. About another minute of walking passed and he stopped. “We’re here.”

In front of them was a secluded area with trees all around them. There was an opening above so there was plenty of sunlight. A small creek ran though the clearing, the noise of the water calming every nerve. There was a log on the bank, big enough for both Tweek and Craig to sit. Craig, still holding Tweek’s hand, gently led him to the log. He sat down, the blond boy doing the same.

“You like it?” Craig asked quietly, not wanting to ruin the peace of the area.

“Craig…” Tweek trailed off. “This is beautiful.”

A few birds chirped and a squirrel ran up on the other side of the creek. It looked at the two boys curiously, leaned to take a sip of water, and scampered off.

“Yeah, it really is.” Craig nodded, letting the nature help him relax. Here he goes. “I have something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Tweek looked unnaturally calm. Craig had never seen him _this_ relaxed before. He knew the other boy liked nature and nice scenery, but holy shit. The difference was like night and day.

“I like you a lot. Y’know, in the not platonic way. And I kinda wanted to maybe… date for real?” Craig tried fighting back a blush, but he felt his cheeks tint red. “We’ve been faking dating since, like, fourth grade. Maybe we can real date? If you want, I mean.”

Craig risked a look at Tweek’s face and all of his prior anxiety washed away. Tweek was staring at the water and smiling. He nodded slightly, cheeks also red.

“I’d like that a lot, Craig.” Tweek leaned onto Craig’s shoulder, squeezing his hand. “Didn’t know you had it in you to do something so romantic.”

“Had to pull out the big stops for this. And if you said no, I would’ve left you here to die.” Craig teased, earning a somewhat painful punch to the arm. “Just kidding.”

“So we’re, like, gay soulmates now?” Tweek asked.

“Yeah, those Asian girls were right. Wonder what else they were right about?” Craig wondered aloud.

“I’ve seen some of the stuff they ship and I really hope some of them are wrong.” Tweek shuddered. “They’re into some crazy shit, man.”

“I dunno, I’ve seen some pretty cute shit from them too.” Craig hummed. “And there’s some shit where I think they might be onto something.”

“What if Asians can _actually_ turn people gay?” Tweek asked out loud.

“You think Asians have some sort of innate psychic powers?” Craig nudged Tweek gently with his arm.

“Gah, I never thought about that!” Tweek exclaimed.

Then he went into a spiralling rant about how Asians may have the ability to see into the future or manipulate the minds of the people around them, which somehow derailed into Asian governments having a vendetta against America. If this had been literally anyone else, Craig would have either up and left ages ago or completely shut them down. But with Tweek’s animated gestures and wild claims, Craig found himself nodding along and letting the other boy talk. Sure, none of it made any reasonable sense, but if Tweek was genuinely worried about it, then all Craig could do was listen and make sure none of it happened.

So they sat there for a while. Tweek had long since stopped rambling after he was done explaining his highly unlikely (“but still possible, Craig!”) worries. They sat there and watched the water flow through the creek, sitting in comfortable silence. Craig watched the water, wondering if one day, he too could go wherever the current took him. He looked over at Tweek, who was breathing peacefully and still leaning on him. If he were to follow the current, he was sure Tweek could come with him. Besides, what were soulmates for anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it, please drop a kudos and/or comment to give me some validation. I love reading comments because they make my day and give me enough serotonin for at least a week! Creek is such a good ship and I wanna write more of it in the future.


	2. It All Started with a Bunny

_ When people are soulmates, they have a fated connection. When something is written on one person, the same thing will appear on the same place on their soulmate. Sometimes people are platonic soulmates, which means they will be friends for the rest of their lives. But other times, people are romantic soulmates. Those people can find love outside of their soulmates, but will eventually end up with each other. _

Kenny looked at his arm in interest. Karen had insisted that she draw something on his arm to “make sure he could keep her art with him.” Normally, he would decline anything that had to do with writing on himself, but he could never refuse Karen when she got persistent. She had told him to wait for a few minutes while she drew, even going so far as to forcing him to close his eyes. Once she had finished, Karen let Kenny look at her drawing.

It was a picture of a small bunny inside of a heart, all drawn in black pen. Karen smiled up at her brother.

“Do you like it?” Karen asked worriedly when Kenny didn’t say anything.

“Yeah,” Kenny responded. “I think it’s almost as cute as you.”

Karen giggled, hiding her embarrassed expression by turning her head away. Kenny left his parka sleeve rolled up, not having the heart to cover the drawing up. They sat together there, on her bed, for the rest of the day. She recounted her day in school, telling him about how one kid did this and someone else did that. He nodded along, letting Karen tell her stories as they ignored the familiar yelling in the room next to them.

The next day, when Kenny was taking a shower, he tried his best to keep the drawing dry. Unfortunately, when he dried himself off, the drawing was smudged and mostly gone. When he showed it to Karen and apologized, she just smiled and made him wash the rest of it off.

“It’s not a tattoo! You don’t need to keep it forever. I just wanted to draw on you yesterday.” Karen had said while Kenny washed the rest of the drawing off.

Right before he left, Kenny packed himself and Karen their lunches. She waved goodbye to him as he left for the bus stop. Once he was alone, he began to think of his soulmate. Would they have seen the illustration? If they did, what did they think of him now? He had never written on himself before. Was it a bad first impression? Well, if they hadn’t seen it, it was too late now.

He walked up to the bus stop where Cartman, Kyle, and Stan were already standing. They were arguing about something Kenny didn’t care enough to listen to. More often than not, Kyle was right in whatever they bickered about. Cartman would be a bigoted asshole and refute anything he said. Then Stan would step in and defend Kyle. Huh, that actually sounded a lot like when they had played pretend. Sir Stan Marshwalker and King Kyle. He never noticed that before. Maybe they weren’t really playing a role after all.

He must have been staring off into space because Stan nudged him with his elbow.

“Hey dude, are you okay?” Stan asked him. Kenny simply nodded.

“Just kinda tired after banging Cartman’s mom.” Kenny joked, jumping in to save Kyle from strangling Cartman. Cartman instantly stopped arguing with Kyle and turned on Kenny.

“Ay! My mom would never let a poor kid come near her!” Cartman screeched. Stan and Kyle burst into a fit of laughter.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t have enough to buy a night with her.” Kenny sighed dramatically. “Her rates are sky high lately.”

“Shut up, Kinny!” Cartman was throwing his normal hissy fit while the other three were laughing. Then the bus showed up and the boys got on.

Kenny sat in the seat in front of Stan and Kyle while Cartman sat in the seat next to him. Cartman was muttering something about hippies as he sulked in his seat. Kyle leaned forward to talk to Kenny.

“Thanks, dude. If I had to listen to Cartman bitching for another minute, I would’ve lost my shit.” Kyle grinned.

“I guess I’m something of a hero.” Kenny said. “You gonna pay me back for it?”

“Don’t push it.” Kyle leaned back in his seat to talk to Stan. When Kenny looked over at Cartman, he looked like he was planning his demise. Wouldn’t be the first time honestly. Or the last time.

The bus finally pulled up at South Park Elementary School and everyone piled out of the bus. They went to their lockers and grabbed whatever they needed for class. They always hung out before class started so they were standing in front of Kyle’s locker when Butters came running up to them.

“Fellas, something amazing happened yesterday!” Butters exclaimed. He was trembling with excitement.

“Well, what happened?” Kenny asked. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw Butters so happy. “You got laid or something?”

“No, nothin’ like that, Kenny!” Butters admonished. “My soulmate drew something on my arm yesterday!”

The four boys perked up in interest. They were all, admittedly, hopeless romantics. Even Cartman was interested in the conversation now. Surprisingly, Cartman was a sucker for romance. When Token and Nichole had broken up, he was more heartbroken over it than the two involved. And he would sometimes talk to himself and say “Cupid Me.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” Kyle scanned Butters’ arms. “Um, where is it?”

“Oh I guess they washed it off this morning because when I woke up, it was gone.” Butters said. “But I took a picture of it last night!”

As Butters quickly took his phone out, the four boys looked at each other. What kind of thing would someone have drawn for Butters? They waited impatiently for the blond to pull the picture up. Butters turned his phone around to show them the picture and Kenny felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

There on Butters’ arm was the small bunny inside of a heart that Karen had drawn on his arm last night.

Holy shit, Butters was his soulmate. But that can’t be right. He didn’t deserve to be Butters’ soulmate. Butters needed someone that would support him and love him unconditionally. Not to mention that the Stotch parents hated his guts. Kenny would be a horrible soulmate. He had a tendency to get into horrific situations and die from them, only to come back to life the next morning like nothing happened. Someone like him had no right to be Butters’ soulmate.

“Dude, you definitely have a chick.” Stan said. “Future wife maybe?”

“It’s too early to think about that stuff.” Butters knocked his knuckles together nervously. “Besides, it could be a platonic soulmate. Just like you guys.”

Stan and Kyle had found out they were soulmates a long time ago. In kindergarten, Stan had the tendency to write things on his arm. It wasn’t hard for the two to realize that they were soulmates. Ever since then, they had been inseparable. They had even coined the term “Super Best Friends” for themselves, which they still used up until now.

“What do you think she looks like?” Kyle wondered aloud. “What if she goes to our school?”

“I hope she’s real pretty! And nice too!” Butters paused. “I don’t think I wanna meet her yet. What if she doesn’t like me?”

“She wouldn’t be the only one.” Cartman mumbled. Kyle elbowed him harshly, causing him to cry out in pain.

“What do you want your soulmate to be like?” Kenny finally said. “And it might not even be a girl.”

“Whoever it is, I want them to be real nice! And they should be there whenever I need them and support me and…” Butters mumbled something too quietly for Kenny to hear.

“And what?” Kenny pressed.

“I want them to call me by my first name. My real name.” Butters’ face turned red from embarrassment.

Cartman doubled over in laughter. Kyle turned around and began yelling at him. Stan groaned in resignation as he tried to pull his best friend away. Butters’ smile was quickly replaced by a frown as he looked at the ground in disappointment.

“I think that’s cute.” Kenny said before Butters became too upset. “Cartman’s an asshole. Ignore him.”

“Y’think so?” Butters asked hopefully, looking up at Kenny. “It’s not stupid, is it?”

“Nah, it’s not dumb. It’s kind of sweet actually.” Kenny reassured. But now he was more sure than ever that he couldn’t be the soulmate that Butters dreamed of.

“Thanks, Kenny.” Butters gave him a soft smile. His parka covered his face so Butters couldn’t see it, but Kenny grinned back at him.

Cartman had left a while ago after Kyle began his tirade, so there were just the four boys left.

“After school, you should write back.” Stan suggested. “Ask for her number so you guys can text or something.”

“Yeah, then you can make plans to meet if she lives around here.” Kyle added.

“Oh hamburgers, I don’t know about meeting them.” Butters said. “But yeah, I’ll ask for their number!”

They talked for a few more minutes until class was about to start. They went into their classroom and sat in their seats. While their teacher was talking, Kenny couldn’t help but look over at Butters, who was fidgeting. He looked like he was itching to go home to talk to his soulmate.

Kenny shook his head. He would do everything in his power to make sure Butters never found out that he was his soulmate. Butters didn’t need him weighing him down from being successful. Kenny already knew that he wouldn’t do anything productive in his life but Butters had potential. He'd rather rip his own eyes out of their sockets than force Butters into a life with him.

After school, Kenny rushed home without a word to anyone else. He felt guilty enough knowing that Butters would try to contact him. All he had to do was be a total asshole when Butters wrote to him in hopes that he would eventually give up.

He felt a spot on his arm tingle uncomfortably. It sort of felt like an itch but when he scratched it, the itch wouldn’t go away. When Kenny looked at his arm, he saw writing.

_ Hey soulmate, can I have your number so we can talk? _

Kenny stared at the message. That was definitely Butters’ handwriting. Now there was absolutely no room for doubt. Butters was definitely Kenny’s soulmate. He looked at his phone on his table. His phone plan didn’t allow for much texting so even if he wanted to text Butters, he couldn’t. Kenny grabbed a pen and wrote back, changing his handwriting so that it wouldn’t be recognized.

_ Don’t have a phone _

He hated lying to Butters about something as important as soulmates but he really didn’t have much of a choice. Kenny knew he had to protect Butters from himself. If he let himself latch onto Butters, there was a good chance that he would try and stop Kenny from dying. Butters was selfless like that. Even though Butters truly had one life, he would throw it away if he believed he was saving someone else’s life.

_ That’s too bad :( _

_ Hey do you live in South Park, Colorado? _

Kenny sighed in aggravation. Didn’t anyone ever teach this kid not to give personal information to strangers? If some random person was Butters’ soulmate, they would already know what town he lived in. Kenny quickly wrote back a response so that Butters wouldn’t say anything else.

_ im gonna go take a nap so dont bother me _

_ Okay! Sleep well, soulmate! _

Kenny threw the pen back onto his table and collapsed onto his bed, facing the ceiling. Maybe if he made Butters think that his soulmate wanted nothing to do with him, he wouldn’t try to find his identity.

~~~~~

As they had gotten older, Kenny realized that writing to Butters so dismissively was hurting him. Once when Kenny was hanging out with Butters, he had caught the other boy looking at Stan and Kyle with a longing expression. From then on, Kenny swore to never write back in a rude manner. But that didn’t mean he was any more willing to reveal his identity. Surprisingly, Butters never stopped trying to get his soulmate to open up to him. Kenny was more polite about dodging any personal questions, but let Butters tell him anything that was on his mind. They had made a deal that Butters could tell him anything but he had to wash it off before he went to bed so there were no marks the next day.

After Kenny had allowed Butters to talk to him, there was a slow change in his behavior. Butters no longer looked like a kicked puppy whenever anyone said anything about soulmates. In fact, he looked much happier. That’s when Kenny decided that he would try to be a better person for Butters. The combination of getting older and seeing Butters change was what made Kenny realize that he couldn’t change the fact that Butters was his soulmate. If he couldn’t change anything, then he may as well be the soulmate that Butters both wanted and needed.

He had begun sticking up for Butters whenever Cartman tried making fun of him and hanging out with him more often. At first, Kenny felt awkward about using nicknames, worried that they may bother Butters. But now, he rarely ever called him just “Butters.” It was almost as if pet names just rolled off the tongue.

Once they got to high school, Kenny had come out as pansexual (not that it was much of a surprise to anyone). He had become the school heartthrob and being poor was no longer his biggest identifier. His normal orange parka seemed to grow with him, so he continued to wear it every day. But now, he changed his clothing depending on the weather. During the warmer days of the year, he wore a t-shirt with his parka tied around his waist. He still kept his hood up during the winter, but after dealing with him for so many years, most people around him learned to decipher what he was saying.

Kenny had hit a few growth spurts and had a charming, pretty face that people seemed to flock towards. Butters, on the other hand, was a few inches shorter and had a boyishly cute face now. Basically, Butters got really cute. Like, really  _ really _ cute.

After hanging out with Butters for a few years, he started noticing the little things about him. Like how he never cursed unless something was seriously wrong and how his gaze would shift to the right when he was lying. He still knocked his knuckles together whenever he was nervous about something, a habit Butters could never grow out of. He didn’t need to listen to lovestruck rants from his friends to know that he was in love.

Lately, when the topic of soulmates came up, Butters would glance at Kenny every so often. But there was no way Butters could know the truth. Kenny was extremely sparing with what he wrote to Butters during their late night conversations. Whenever they hung out in person, Kenny was always tight lipped about anything soulmate related as to not give anything away.

“You fellas sure are lucky!” Butters said to Stan and Kyle at lunch one day in their sophomore year. Butters and Kenny sat next to each other and Stan and Kyle sat across the table from them. “You both knew you were soulmates since you were little kids. I wish I could meet my soulmate.”

“Yeah, I guess we did get pretty lucky.” Stan laughed. “But there’s someone here whose soulmate we know nothing about.”

Stan and Kyle looked pointedly at Kenny, who shrugged. When he looked over at Butters, he was shocked to see a concentrated look on his face. Kenny could practically see the gears turning in Butters’ head. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed and he was biting his lower lip. Kenny reached out and smoothed the crease between Butters’ eyebrows with his thumb.

“You’re thinking about something pretty hard, Buttercup.” Kenny commented when Butters blinked in surprise at the sudden contact. “Share with the class?”

“It’s nothin’. I’m just thinkin’ about somethin’.” Butters answered. “But we know all sorts of things about each other but you never say nothin’ about your soulmate.”

Kenny stayed silent. Sometimes Butters would try to pry information from Kenny about his soulmate but he would normally sidestep the question. This time though, it didn’t look like he was going to get away as easily.

“C’mon, Butterfly. You know I don’t really care much about the whole soulmate thing.” Kenny lied, trying to sate Butters’ curiosity.

“Yeah, dude, you never talk about your soulmate.” Kyle butt in. “You embarrassed about it or something?”

“Something like that.” Kenny said cryptically.

“Embarrassed  _ about _ soulmates or embarrassed  _ by _ them…” Butters muttered low enough so that only Kenny could hear him. Butters’ eyes widened, surprised about the way he had just spoken.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kenny wasn’t used to Butters sounding so mad about something.

“I just…” Butters thought for a moment. “Do you know who your soulmate is and just don’t like them?”

Stan and Kyle looked at Butters in shock. Then they looked at Kenny, awaiting an answer. Yep, he definitely wasn’t getting out of this. Kenny momentarily thought about killing himself so he could get out of this situation. Then he could come back to school and pretend that this conversation had never happened. He shook his head. No, if he didn’t address this now, he’d just be prolonging the inevitable.

“Fine, I know them.” Kenny said, watching the faces of his friends change from annoyance to awe. “But I don’t want them to know who I am.”

“But why?” Stan asked. “Everyone wants to know their soulmate.”

“I don’t deserve to be their soulmate.” Kenny sighed. “They deserve so much better than me.”

“I ain’t gonna let you talk about yourself like that, Ken!” Butters yelled. He then lowered his voice when a few heads turned to see why he was yelling. “You’re one of the best people in this town and whoever your soulmate is would be lucky to have you! So just tell them already!”

“Leo…” Kenny breathed out. He looked over at Stan and Kyle, who were equally shell shocked.

“Dude.” Kyle simply said. He looked at Kenny with worry evident in his eyes. “He’s right, you know. You put yourself down way too much.”

“I can’t tell them, guys.” Kenny gripped his hood, trying to hide his face from them. “I like them a lot. Not platonically.”

“How long have you been hiding this?” Stan asked and Kenny knew no one was going to like his answer.

“I’ve known who my soulmate is for a long time. But I’ve really liked them for about a year now.” Kenny avoided making eye contact with any of his friends. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the pity that would undoubtedly be in their eyes.

The bell rang loudly, making the four friends jolt in surprise. He heard Kyle curse loudly but what caught his attention was the soft swear from Butters. As he moved to get up, Kenny felt someone grab his wrist. He looked down and saw Butters with a strong hold on his wrist.

“Ken, meet me at Stark’s Pond at midnight. I need to talk to you about something important.” Butters loosened his grip. “Can you make it?”

“I can, but your parents─” Kenny tried to speak, but Butters interrupted him.

“Don’t you worry about them. That’s my problem. You just get to Stark’s Pond by midnight, okay?” Butters let go of his wrist and got up. Kenny dumbly nodded and Butters smiled. “I’ll see you then!”

Butters left him standing alone in the cafeteria in confusion. Why did Butters want to talk to him alone and so late at night? He was well aware of Butters’ parents and their strict rules. It was easy for Kenny to leave his house whenever he wanted but Butters was probably locked in his house once it got dark. Was it possible that Butters knew about the whole soulmate thing?

Well, whatever this was about, Kenny wasn’t just going to blow Butters off. Not like he could ever say no to him anyway. Especially when he seemed so determined. Kenny sighed. There goes his peace of mind for the rest of the day.

~~~~~

Butters waited for his parents to turn in for the night before he climbed out of bed. He glanced at his alarm clock and quickly changed out of his light blue pajamas into a t-shirt and jeans. He still had about fifteen minutes before he was supposed to meet Kenny at Stark’s Pond. He had been planning this for months now. Ever since he had started to suspect Kenny of being his soulmate about a few years ago (from eighth grade to be precise), Butters had planned to ask him about it. He had been playing nice with his parents until they agreed to take the security units out of his room. Until now, Kenny had never spoken a word about his soulmate, but he had gotten him to crack at lunch.

When Kenny had started to call him by nicknames and hang out with him more, Butters began to grow suspicious. During middle school, Kenny was actively going out of his way for Butters. Things like walking Butters home or ditching his friends to hang out with him. It wasn’t until eighth grade that Butters really stopped to think about  _ why _ Kenny was doing this. Middle school had been a rough patch for him because his soulmate had been their absolute rudest. During that time, Butters couldn’t even handle anyone around him talking about soulmates without him getting close to tears. Kenny was always the one there to switch the topic or distract Butters from the conversation.

After Kenny had caught him on the verge of tears in class and found out that it had been because some girls were talking about how nice their soulmates were, Butters’ soulmate was no longer rude to him. He had gotten an apology for their behavior and was told that they didn’t like soulmates because their parents were horrible. At first, Butters had assumed that Kenny knew who his soulmate was but was keeping it a secret on their behalf. But then Butters began talking to his soulmate at night. Sometimes when he spilled his heart out to his soulmate, Kenny would be extra gentle and kind to him the next day.

Because of how nice Kenny was to him, was it really any surprise that Butters had developed feelings for him? Kenny was a really sweet guy that put his all into something that he felt strongly about. He worked hard to support himself and his family while juggling school, a part-time job, and his friends. For a while, Butters was in denial about the idea of Kenny being his soulmate. He refused to believe that Kenny was the one who was so rude to him before, but the more he thought about it, the more he understood.

Butters knew that Kenny was a self-deprecating person. After the conversation from lunch about how Kenny thought he didn’t deserve his soulmate, Butters was almost certain that the other boy was his soulmate. And if he was wrong? Well, he could always move to Hawaii and change his name.

Butters shrugged on a jacket and shoved his phone into his pocket. Then he quietly opened his window, thankful for the lack of security now. He slipped out of his window and climbed down the side of his house. Kenny had snuck into his room plenty of times before and he had shown him how he climbed the side of the house. Butters had engraved the pattern into his brain and practiced while his parents went out. Thankfully, he made it to the ground unscathed. He checked his phone and gasped at the time. He only had five minutes to be at their meeting spot!

Butters ran like he had never run before. He didn’t want to be late for something that  _ he _ asked  _ Kenny _ to show up for! He ran past the houses on his street, crossing the street quickly and ran past the community center and South Park Elementary School. He slowed down when he saw Stark’s Pond in front of him. Thankfully, Kenny was nowhere to be seen. Butters sat down on the bench, catching his breath. He sat there for a few minutes, waiting for Kenny to arrive, swinging his legs and skipping rocks on the pond.

Then he heard the rustling of trees and incoming footsteps. Butters turned his head towards the noise, trying to see who it was. If it wasn’t Kenny, he’d probably have to start running. He saw a familiar orange parka and relaxed.

“Sorry I’m late, Buttercup.” Kenny apologized, coming over to sit next to Butters. “Just had to make sure Karen was asleep before I left.”

“Aw, that’s okay, Ken. I’m just glad you showed up!” Butters had always been quick to forgive.

“Well, I’m here now. You wanted to talk to me ‘bout something important?” Kenny pulled his hood down, shaking his head to let his wild blond hair flow freely. It was unkempt and unruly, but somehow that just added to his rugged charm.

Butters unconsciously leaned onto Kenny’s shoulder, placing his cheek on the other boy’s arm. Butters was naturally a physical person, craving touch from the people he was close to. His nose scrunched up reflexively at the smell of smoke from Kenny’s parka, but he stayed silent. His mind raced, trying to think of something to say. He’d been waiting for this moment for years, even planned it out multiple times, but now that he was getting the chance to set the record straight, he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Fuck it, he was just going to be direct. Kenny was great at sidestepping questions if he was subtle about it. Asking outright was probably the best thing he could do.

“Kenny…” Butters paused, trying to word his next sentence carefully. “I just─ Who’s your soulmate?”

Butters felt Kenny tense slightly. There was a short pause before Kenny laughed awkwardly.

“Is that what this is all about?” Kenny laughed, but Butters knew it wasn’t genuine. “Just wanna know who’s gonna get all of this?”

“I’m serious, Ken.” Butters sagged against Kenny. “You obviously think the world of them.”

“That’s why I  _ can’t _ tell anyone. Look, Butterscotch, this person deserves the world and more. Imagine how they’d feel if they found out that their soulmate is some washed up poor kid that sleeps around.” Kenny sighed.

“Ken, that’s not how soulmates work. They accept you for who you are because you’re meant to be by each other’s sides. Y’know, as friends or more.” Butters argued. “You said you like them, right? Just turn up that McCormick charm and they’ll love you in an instant.”

“It’s not just that, Leo.” Kenny took a deep breath. “I’m scared.”

“Scared?” Butters could barely believe his ears. Kenny was probably one of the bravest people he knew. “Scared of what?”

“I definitely can’t have this conversation sober.” Kenny didn’t seem like he was going to be revealing anything on his own. Guess it was time for Butters to ask the question that’s been burning in his head for years.

“Is it me?” Butters asked. “Am I your soulmate?”

Kenny spluttered, probably taken aback by what Butters had said, pulling away. Butters sat up straight, waiting with bated breath while Kenny regained his composure. They sat in silence for a few beats until Kenny spoke again.

“You knew?” Kenny finally settled on. “You knew this whole time?”

“I’ve suspected since eighth grade. You should know better than anyone that I ain’t as dumb as the rest of the town thinks I am.” Butters grabbed Kenny’s arm and pulled him closer again so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

“But how? I never talked about my soulmate.” Kenny looked flabbergasted. Butters leaned against Kenny again.

“Sometimes I put my brain to good use.” Butters said cryptically. He didn’t want Kenny to know just how much thought he had put into the whole ordeal. “Now what are you scared about? We can work through it together.”

“God, so many things. I’m a danger magnet. If something happens to me, I can come back just fine. But if something were to happen to you… I couldn’t live with myself.” Kenny rested his head on top of Butters. “And I’m scared that you’ll do something selfless to save me and risk your own life.”

“You’d do the same thing, wouldn’t you?” Butters asked. “My life isn’t more important than yours.”

“But you’ve only got one!” Kenny yelled abruptly. “You need to protect it! You won’t come back if you die!”

“Ken…” Butters breathed out. Sometimes, Kenny would say things like this. He never quite understood, but Kenny never offered an explanation.

“I’ve already hurt you once.” Kenny sat up, making Butters sit up as well. He looked at Kenny’s face, waiting for him to continue speaking. The other boy cupped Butters’ cheek with his hand, gently tracing the small scar on his eye. “I did this when we were kids. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about it.”

“It was an accident! You can’t keep blaming yourself for it.” Butters looked closely at Kenny’s face. His blue eyes looked pained and he could tell that there was so much that Kenny was keeping hidden.

“If you stick around me, something like that is gonna happen again.” Kenny’s hand fell from Butters’ face. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“We’ve been through a whole lot.” Butters said. “And if something bad happens, we can get through it together. And I want none of that self-hate talk from you, mister!”

“I don’t wanna think about the future right now. Ask me anything else, Butterfly.” Kenny laughed hollowly. Butters thought for a moment before he giggled.

“So you’ve liked me since last year?” Butters teased.

“I─” Kenny pulled his hood back up, embarrassed. “Yeah…”

“Great.” Butters grinned. “Because I’ve got a thing for you too.”

“Oh yeah?” Kenny looked at Butters with a raised eyebrow. “Since when?”

“That’s a secret.” Butters was absolutely not telling Kenny that he’d been crushing for years. “So… boyfriends?”

“That’s what I want. If that’s what you want too, then hell yeah.” Kenny moved his hand so it was resting on Butters’ thigh, facing up. Butters smiled down at it, placing his own hand on it. Kenny softly gripped his hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing it.

“Is it okay if we take things slow? I’ve never dated a guy before…” Butters started to say. Most of Kenny’s past relationships were heavily sexual, but Butters wanted to take his time.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Kenny grinned, guiding their hands back down onto his lap. “I haven’t had an actual relationship in a long time. We’re both learning, I guess.”

If this was a movie, Butters knew that they should be kissing by now. But they weren’t in some cheesy romcom. Instead, they sat there in comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s company. They both knew that Butters would have to go home before the sun rose so his parents wouldn’t realize that he was gone, but for now, they just wanted to be with each other. As Butters began to worry about his parents and their reactions to his new relationship, he felt Kenny squeeze their joined hands and he couldn’t help but smile. He squeezed back and let himself lean on Kenny.

Yeah, they were going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it, please drop a kudos and/or comment to give me some validation. I love reading comments because they make my day and give me enough serotonin for at least a week! I love Bunny with all my heart and I have a BUNCH of fics lined up for it! I've got a list of Bunny prompts laying around and I'm gonna write some of them soon enough.


	3. Don't Cramp on my Style

_ When people are soulmates, they have a fated connection. When something is written on one person, the same thing will appear on the same place on their soulmate. Sometimes people are platonic soulmates, which means they will be friends for the rest of their lives. But other times, people are romantic soulmates. People can find love outside of their soulmates, but will eventually end up with each other. _

Kyle and Stan had known that they were each other’s soulmates since kindergarten. Stan used to have a tendency to write on his arm as a reminder, making it really easy for Kyle to figure out who his soulmate was. Since then, they became self-proclaimed “Super Best Friends.” After that, they told each other practically everything. They played video games together, slept over at each other’s houses, and went everywhere together.

Kyle had no idea how, but Stan and Wendy had gotten together in elementary school. It made no sense to him how 10 years old could possibly know that they were in love, but he didn’t care. As long as his best friend was happy, he was more than happy to support the relationship. Whenever things would get rocky, Stan came over to talk to Kyle and get some advice. At first, Kyle didn’t like being used as a therapist or relationship counselor, but he later realized Stan was happier afterwards.

Once they got into middle school, puberty hit and there were more responsibilities to take care of. Kyle found his thoughts of getting a girlfriend being replaced by thoughts of getting a boyfriend. He didn’t care about sneaking a peek at the girls changing for gym like the rest of the guys. Instead, he couldn’t help but sneak peeks at other guys. Sixth grade was all about getting used to the new development.

But seventh grade is when Kyle found himself crushing hard for his best friend. He had no idea how it had happened, but one night, Kyle stared up at his ceiling at 3am and came to the realization. It wasn’t normal to get nervous around your best friend or feel the need to kiss him until he couldn’t breathe. The worst part about being in love with your best friend is that you can’t even tell anyone because the one you would normally tell about a crush is the one you’re crushing on.

What sucked even more is that Stan and Wendy were still dating. Yeah, they were an on and off couple, but Kyle wasn’t a homewrecker. Stan’s happiness was way more important than his dumb crush. So he kept his mouth shut and continued to help Stan sort out his relationship. There wasn’t anything else he  _ could _ do. They still hung out like they used to, except now Kyle had to make sure Stan was blissfully unaware.

But that wasn’t to say that Kyle wasn’t a little selfish. Whenever they went to each other’s houses, Kyle let Stan pick what movies they would watch or what games they would play. Then, when Stan was engrossed in whatever they were doing, Kyle would lean against him. He was thankful that he was in a position where he could do something a little gay and not have Stan question it. They’d been friends for so long that they seemed a little gay anyway. Things were going as well as they could for a while.

Then eighth grade hit. Stan had come over to Kyle’s house one day after dinner, close to tears. The other Broflovski’s had no idea what was wrong when he came inside, but Kyle had plenty of experience. Stan only had that look on his face when something happened either at home or with Wendy. Stan made a beeline towards Kyle’s room, leaving the latter standing in the living room with his parents frantically asking what was wrong.

“Don’t bother us.” Kyle quickly said, wincing at how rude he accidentally sounded. Without another word, Kyle dashed up the stairs and ran to his room.

Stan was lying on Kyle’s bed on his stomach, face smushed into a pillow. Kyle felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. He was really worried about his best friend. The last time Stan had come over like this was when his parents started bringing up the topic of divorce. Kyle went over and sat next to Stan, rubbing comforting circles on his back.

“What’s wrong, dude?” Kyle softly asked. He didn’t want to be pushy, in case Stan wasn’t up for talking. The redhead jolted slightly when he felt a pair of arms snake around his hips. Stan moved his head so that he was facing Kyle.

“Ky, I’m… not with Wendy anymore.” Stan sniffled. Kyle abruptly stopped moving. Stan and Wendy broke up? Kyle couldn’t imagine how Stan must have been feeling.

“But─” Kyle paused, trying to collect his thoughts. “What happened? You guys were, like, the golden couple.”

“It was a mutual thing.” Stan said, shocking Kyle. Stan wanted this break up? His confusion must have been obvious because Stan kept talking. “We were talking after school today and I guess we both just kinda agreed that we were changing and that maybe we should see other people.”

“You never told me about any of this…” Kyle breathed out. How long had Stan felt this way?

“How could I? You were always the guy that helped me keep things together with Wendy and you always had my back about us being together. How was I supposed to face you and say that I didn’t really wanna be with her anymore?” Stan hugged Kyle even though they were in an awkward position.

“Stan, I just want you to be happy. I thought you were happy with Wendy so I supported you both. If you just told me, I could’ve helped you.” Kyle said lamely. “I’m here for you, man.”

“I don’t even know why I’m so sad.” Stan laughed dryly. “I wanted this but here I am crying on you.”

“You guys’ve been together for like four years. Obviously you’re gonna be upset and you have every right to be.” Kyle continued his motion of rubbing the other boy’s back. “You wanna stay the night?”

Kyle felt Stan weakly nod against him. As much as he didn’t want to, Kyle had to pull away from Stan’s embrace for a moment to tell his parents that he would be staying over. He stepped out of his room and saw his parents in the living room. Going down the stairs to grab Stan’s favorite chips, his mom stopped him.

“Is something wrong with Stan?” She asked, clearly worried.

“He’s gonna be staying the night.” Kyle answered, not wanting to give a reason yet. “Could you tell his parents?”

“Of course, Bubba. Take care of him, okay?” Kyle’s mom kissed his forehead and reached for her phone. After rummaging through the cupboard, Kyle grabbed the bag of chips and headed back upstairs.

When Kyle closed the door to his room after entering, he saw Stan sitting up now. His eyes were red from the tears he’d shed. Kyle hated seeing Stan like that and it never got easier. Every time he saw his best friend crying, Kyle’s heart shattered. He handed the bag of chips to Stan, who reached out with slightly shaking hands, and opened his closet. Stan and Kyle had gone over to each other’s houses unplanned so often that they each had a pair of pajamas for the other.

He grabbed the plain black t-shirt and grey pajama pants from his closet and turned to see Stan blankly staring at him. Kyle wordlessly held the clothes out with one hand and tried to find his own pajamas with the other. When he felt Stan take the clothes, he used both hands to rummage through his closet. Once he found a loose white t-shirt and black sweatpants, he turned around.

He was met with the sight of Stan pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it on the bed. Kyle immediately turned around, blood rushing to his cheeks. He thought Stan would go to change in the bathroom! If he left to go change now, would Stan get the wrong idea? Fuck it, they’ve changed in front of each other plenty of times before so it shouldn’t be any different.

He turned his back on Stan and changed as quickly as possible, trying to forget that the other boy was even there. Kyle dumped his old clothes in his laundry basket and turned around. Stan was back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Kyle sighed and took Stan’s old clothes and threw them into the basket as well. Then he took his spot next to his Super Best Friend, lying down and rolling to his side to face him.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Kyle asked. He resisted the urge to hug him again. The only thing he wanted to do at the moment was  _ tell _ him. Tell Stan that he liked him. But that was the one thing he couldn’t do.

Stan came over to his house for the comfort of his friend, not to hear Kyle’s problems. So he swallowed it down, trying his hardest not to think about it. He just broke up with Wendy that day, so there was no way Kyle was going to tell him anything. But damn, he really  _ really _ wanted to. The last thing Kyle wanted was to take advantage of Stan’s broken state and ruin their friendship. At least they were platonic soulmates, so Kyle would always have Stan in his life, even if they were just friends.

So he quietly listened as Stan recalled some of the fond memories he had had with Wendy until he fell asleep.

~~~~~

After Stan and Wendy broke up, things were a little unstable, but Kyle ultimately helped his friend get through it. Soon enough, they were all in their first year of high school. Kyle had slowly stopped talking to Cartman since he hadn’t stopped being a bigoted asshole. Things were looking up for Kyle except for one thing. His damn crush on Stan had not gone away, instead growing bigger and bigger.

After being in the closet for a year, Kyle had come out to his friends and family at the beginning of freshman year. Everyone had been extremely supportive, except for Cartman, who had said that he knew that Kyle was a faggot since elementary school. Which, incidentally, was one of the major reasons Kyle stopped talking to him.

Stan had been ultra supportive though, telling him that it didn’t matter if he was gay. He even listened to Kyle’s rants about minor crushes he had had. For a month or so, Kyle had a small crush on David Rodriguez. Stan was nice enough to listen to him for that time, saying that it was only fair he listened when Kyle listened to his lovesick bullshit.

Was it really any surprise that Kyle was smitten with his best friend? He refrained from any relationships, pretending he wasn’t hopelessly in love. Stan, on the other hand, had a history of dating. Stan had completely moved on from Wendy and was now close friends with her. Since he was on the debate team (and handsome as hell now), plenty of girls crushed hard for him. Stan went out with a few of them, but none of those relationships “felt right.” Stan’s words, not Kyle’s.

“Hey, Ky…” Stan had said one time when they were at Stan’s house, playing video games. “Can I tell you something?”

“Sure, dude. What’s up?” Kyle paused the game, sensing that Stan was thinking about something important.

“I think… I think I like guys.” Stan confessed quietly. But then he quickly added, “I still like girls too though!”

“Stan, that’s… great!” Kyle couldn’t stop the bright grin from crawling onto his face. “I’m so glad you decided to tell me!”

“But it’s not weird, right? That I like both?” Stan still seemed nervous.

“No way, dude. You’re just a regular bi guy.” Kyle felt giddy with happiness. “Have you told anyone else?”

“You’re the first.” Stan admitted, making Kyle’s heart flutter. “I thought you’d be the best person to start with.”

Kyle was absolutely elated. Stan trusted him enough to come out! While riding out the high of being told that Stan was bisexual, he made an abrupt realization. Stan was into guys… and Kyle was a guy. Did that mean that Kyle might possibly have a chance?

“Are you gonna tell anyone else?” Kyle asked. “Like your family?”

“I was thinking of telling Kenny this week. Maybe my mom later.” Stan thought aloud. “Kenny would probably be cool with it, right?”

“Of course. And if anything bad happens, I’m here for you.” Kyle slung an arm around Stan’s shoulders, dropping his controller on the ground. “You’re my best friend and I’ve got your back.”

They sat like that for a while, talking about how Stan would slowly start coming out to more and more people. Then they fell back into the comfortable lull of playing video games. But Kyle could hardly concentrate on the screen. All he could think about was the fact that Stan liked guys too.

~~~~~

Two years later, Stan and Kyle were in their junior year of high school. Stan had completely come out last year to everyone he knew. Aside from a few remarks from Cartman about how “Kahl rubbed some of his gay on Stan,” people had been quite supportive. Obviously there were still some homophobic people, but not enough to counteract the supportive ones. His mom and sister were supportive but his dad was still on the fence. Shelly said that Stan was still an annoying little shit, regardless of his sexuality, which was just her way of showing support. Mrs. Marsh was happy that Stan was comfortable enough to come out and kept Mr. Marsh at bay whenever he tried to say something rude.

Kyle had joined the basketball team and Stan had joined the animal rights club. They were also both on the debate team. Stan went to all of Kyle’s games and Kyle always made time to go to the animal rights club’s fundraisers. When they had debates, Stan and Kyle usually worked together to prove their point. If they were on opposite sides, debates were known to drag on for a while. Things were going pretty smoothly.

Lately though, Stan had been acting strange. He was skipping their weekly sleepovers more often and barely had any somewhat believable excuses. Usually, Stan would write a dumb message on his arm for Kyle to see every few days. Some days it was a joke and other days it was an observation. The last time Stan wrote on his arm was a few weeks ago with a simple “saw the cutest dog today.” Not to mention Stan was avoiding Kyle and refused to be alone with him. Kyle’s heart broke because of it, but decided not to bring it up whenever they  _ did _ talk. Something was clearly bothering Stan, but he just had to wait until he was ready to say it.

But enough was enough at one point. Kyle was finishing up his homework, glancing at his phone often. They were supposed to have a sleepover that night since Stan had skipped the past three weeks. So far, he had received neither an excuse nor confirmation. It was already 9pm and Stan usually texted before 8pm. He knew he was being a little dramatic, but Kyle couldn’t help but worry. Did something happen? He fought the urge to run over to Stan’s house this instant. Surely Stan would let him know if something came up. He jumped a little when he heard his phone buzz.

He grabbed his phone, looking at the new message. It was from Stan, finally.

_ SBF: hey dont think i can make it _

_ Again???? _

_ SBF: i know i know and im sorry _

_ SBF: smth came up _

_ And that something is? _

_ SBF: look ill explain tomorrow _

_ Cmon man you've missed three sleepovers already _

_ If you're ignoring me just say so lmao _

Kyle frowned at his phone as he waited for a response. It was obvious that he was being lied to. He wouldn’t even be as upset if Stan just straight out told him that he wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

_ SBF: no its nothing like that dude _

_ SBF: its just that im busy _

_ SBF: we have a big fundraiser for ARC coming up and i completely forgot _

_ SBF: i gotta have everything sorted out _

_ That’s the first i’m hearing about a fundraiser _

Yep, Stan was definitely lying. The animal rights club was one of the biggest parts of Stan’s high school life. He was the vice president of the club─probably will be the president next year─so there was no way he’d forget a fundraiser.

_ SBF: listen _

_ SBF: ill make it up to you i promise _

_ I'm gonna be honest i don't believe you _

_ But i won't push it _

_ It’s none of my business ig _

Kyle looked away from his phone angrily. He’d been patient but he wasn’t sure how long he could continue. Did he do something to make Stan upset with him? He didn’t think so. Kyle’s been treating Stan the same for as long as he could remember. Stan was perfectly fine with, liked it actually, so what was the issue?

Oh fuck, unless…? Unless Stan knew that Kyle liked him. That must be why Stan didn’t want to be alone with him or avoided him like he was the plague. But the only one he told was Kenny and Kenny was not the type of guy to spill someone else’s secrets. Or maybe someone figured it out on their own and told Stan?

Kyle glanced back at his phone, trying to figure out what to say. To his surprise, he saw multiple messages from Stan. His phone didn’t give him a notification because he still had the chat open.

_ SBF: no its not like that _

_ SBF: i swear _

_ SBF: i know it sounds really dumb but im telling you the truth _

_ SBF: kyle? _

_ SBF: cmon dude dont leave me on read _

_ SBF: are you doing this because you think im ignoring you _

_ SBF: if you dont answer ill actually cry _

_ No i’m here _

_ But if you really can’t come then i can't force you _

_ I just thought that maybe we could hang out _

_ Y’know since it’s been a while _

_ SBF: i know :( _

_ SBF: i just need to figure some shit out _

Figure shit out? Kyle reread that text multiple times to make sure that he was reading it right. Now there was a thread he could pull to get the real story. He felt terrible about trying to make Stan say something he didn’t want to, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take being ignored for.

_ Wdym “figure shit out” _

_ SBF: oh scheduling shit yknow _

_ SBF: i gotta figure out how when its gonna happen _

_ Stan you’re a bad liar _

_ SBF: dammit _

_ SBF: ok fine its not ARC related _

_ SBF: its about smth else _

_ Am i allowed to know? _

_ SBF: i _

_ SBF: havent decided _

_ Can i come over? _

_ We can talk about it _

_ SBF: im probably gonna regret this in the morning _

_ SBF: but sure you can come _

_ SBF: may as well get this over with _

_ Stay the whole night or? _

_ SBF: depends _

_ You know i hate that cryptic shit _

_ Fuck you im bringing my stuff and im staying the night _

Kyle shoved his phone in his back pocket and got up from his desk. Fuck doing his homework; he had the weekend to do it anyway. Normally he’d try to have it done on Friday so he could hang out with his friends for the weekend, but today he needed answers. He grabbed a small bag and threw a pair of underwear inside. He didn’t bother packing clothes since he knew there was a pair of his pajamas at Stan’s house. Then he ran to the bathroom and packed his toothbrush and comb.

He stopped for a second and reached for a pen. He clicked it and wrote a quick message on his arm.

_ I want the truth when I come over _

After grabbing what he needed, Kyle all but ran down the stairs. He told his mom that he’d be staying the night at Stan’s, not waiting for a reply. He ran out the door and looked at his friend’s house. The lights were still on, unsurprisingly. He walked over to the doorstep, adjusting his ukasha so it covered his ears.

Kyle nervously rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to open the door. He heard the door unlock and he stood up straighter. Then the door opened, revealing Mrs. Marsh.

“Oh hi, Kyle.” She greeted. “Here for Stan?”

“Yeah, I’m sleeping over. Is that okay?” Kyle asked, suddenly feeling awkward. There had been plenty of times that he’d gone over unannounced, but what if Stan wasn’t lying about there being something wrong?

“Of course, Kyle. Stan’s up in his room.” Mrs. Marsh stepped aside to let Kyle in. “He’s a little upset so maybe you can figure out what happened.”

Kyle walked past her, saying hello to Mr. Marsh on the way up the stairs. He climbed the stairs and stood in front of Stan’s bedroom door. Gathering his courage, he knocked.

“Hey man, it’s me. Can I come in?” Kyle asked.

“Sure…” Stan said from the other side of the door. Kyle’s eyebrows furrowed at his upset tone. He opened the door and saw Stan lying face down on his bed.

Kyle sighed, dropping his bag by the bedside table and lied down next to him, facing the ceiling. He waited for a few moments for Stan to speak up, but when it was completely silent, he knew he had to start a conversation.

“What’s on your mind, dude?” Kyle started. “It’s gotta be something big if you won’t even tell your best friend.”

“God, I don’t even know how to tell you.” Stan groaned, voice muffled by the pillow his face was currently on.

It was times like these that Kyle had to be strategic. If he said the wrong thing, Stan wouldn’t breathe another word about his problem. He couldn’t afford to make jokes now. He had to focus on getting Stan to talk without making him feel uncomfortable.

“Maybe start broad? And work your way into details.” Kyle suggested. Yeah, that sounded pretty good. Stan seemed to think so too because he turned over to face Kyle.

“I like someone.” Stan said, looking directly at Kyle. The latter nodded in thought. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from making an annoyed comment. But really?  _ That _ was what had Stan so upset?

“You’ve liked people before. What’s different now?” Kyle gently pushed for more information.

“It’s… a guy.” Stan’s eyes dropped from Kyle’s face to his sheets. “And I think it’s serious.”

“Oh.” Kyle said lamely. “This is your first serious crush on a guy, right?”

Stan silently nodded, looking embarrassed. Kyle was confused. Why was Stan so hesitant to tell him that before? There must be something else that he was hiding.

“Are you scared to tell him?” Kyle asked. When Stan nodded again, Kyle spoke again. “Why are you scared? Is he not into guys?”

“He is, but I don’t want to make things awkward.” Stan mumbled. “We’re friends and I don’t wanna fuck anything up.”

“Want me to be your wingman?” Kyle asked genuinely. He knew it would break his heart to see Stan with someone else, but if meant him being happy…

“You? As my wingman?” Stan laughed bitterly. “Wouldn’t  _ that _ be a sight to see?”

“Hey, I can be a good wingman!” Kyle said indignantly.

“I know, but…” Stan hesitated. “It just wouldn’t work with this specific person.”

Alright, what in the absolute fuck did that mean? Did his crush not like him? The only one he knew that actively disliked him was Cartman, but it had been years since Stan had actually called him a friend.

“I get it.” Kyle nodded, moving his head so he was looking over at Stan. Wait, what? Why did he say that? “There’s someone I like too and I can’t exactly ask you to be my wingman.”

Wow, Kyle just said that. Who told his brain that saying that was a good idea? This conversation wasn’t even about him! And knowing Stan, he’s about to start grilling him for answers. He hasn’t wanted the ground to swallow him whole this badly since he had walked in on Kenny banging some chick during one of Token’s parties in freshman year.

“Oh yeah?” Stan smiled slightly for the first time that night. “Tell me about your mystery guy.”

“Absolutely not. I’m here for you, not the other way around.” Kyle argued.

Stan’s smile dropped and his expression completely changed. Kyle knew that look far too well.

Frown? Check.

Furrowed eyebrows? Check.

Lip biting? Check.

Sorrowful look in his eyes? Check to the nth degree.

That meant that Stan was thinking of something extremely self-deprecating and was always wrong. Kyle pretty much had no choice but to agree to his earlier idea. Stan was really emotional tonight and Kyle wanted to help more than anything in the world.

“Well, I guess I could tell you a little.” Kyle gave in. “But you better tell me something too.”

“After you.” Stan seemed to brighten up just a little. “So how long’ve you liked this guy?”

“God, years. Since like seventh grade?” Kyle cringed slightly. That meant he’d been crushing on Stan for about five years. Damn, he was pathetic.

“Dude, are you serious? And you haven’t done shit about it?” Stan asked, eyes widening. “Even I’m not that much of a loser.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. He’s my friend, so I can’t really drop that bomb on him.” Kyle sighed sadly.

“You’re stuck in the friendzone too?” Stan said sympathetically. “I feel that.”

“Tell me something about your man.” Kyle nudged Stan with his shoulder before turning onto his side to face the latter.

“I don’t even know how long I’ve liked him, honestly. I guess I kinda just realized it a few weeks ago.” Stan’s voice was low, as if he was trying to figure something out.

“Hey…” Kyle felt his cheeks start to burn. “If I tell you who I like and it goes badly, promise me you’ll forget what happened tonight.”

Yeah, Kyle was going to tell him tonight. He was tired of dancing around his feelings. It was probably bad timing, considering Stan liked someone else, but he needed to get this off of his chest before it crushed him. He gathered the mere ounce of confidence he had, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do.

“What? I can’t promise that.” Stan looked confused.

“Okay fine. At least promise you’ll pretend today never happened.” Kyle pleaded. “And you better not tell anyone.”

“I─” Stan started to say something, but stopped. “Okay, I promise.”

Well, it was time. After five long years, Kyle was finally going to tell Stan. Shit, he should’ve planned this out before he opened his fucking mouth. By now, Kyle knew his face probably matched his hair in color.

“Shit, okay. Gimme a second.” Kyle stalled. Now how was he supposed to bring this up? He couldn’t just say “nevermind” or “lol it’s you, Stan.” He couldn’t sound like a moron. But the last thing he wanted to do was get sappy. It would just make things awkward when Stan inevitably shuts him down.

“Take your time.” Stan stared at him, making Kyle itch with anticipation.

God, Stan was looking at him with those eyes. Those pretty blue eyes could make him do just about anything. And here he was about to make things awkward for probably the rest of their lives. Well, their friendship was fun while it lasted. Kyle turned onto his back so he was facing the ceiling again. There was no way he was going to look Stan in the eye while he did this.

“I’ve liked my soulmate since seventh grade, Stan.” Kyle heard Stan make a strange noise, but ignored it. “We’ve been through so much shit together so I guess it’s not much of a surprise. You’ve always had my back and we’ve been friends for so long.”

“Kyle, you─” Stan tried to speak, but Kyle interrupted him.

“I know it’s fucking weird and I know you don’t feel the same. Don’t feel bad, okay? I’ll just head home and we can pretend this never happened.” Kyle started to get up from Stan’s bed, but Stan threw an arm over Kyle’s chest.

“Can you wait for me to fucking talk? You have zero patience, idiot.” Stan kept his arm on Kyle, trapping him down. Kyle braced himself for rejection. “I… sorta like you too.”

“You what?” Kyle blinked owlishly. He couldn’t believe his ears. This had to be a dream. He pinched himself, wincing when he felt pain on his arm.

“Yeah, I kinda realized a little while ago. That’s kinda why I’ve been ignoring you. I’m really sorry.” Stan apologized. “I’ve been an asshole for, like, a month.”

“This isn’t a dream, is it?” Kyle asked, still in shock. “I’m not about to wake up, am I?”

“Nope, this is real.” Stan laughed. “Well, I guess we weren’t platonic soulmates like we thought, huh?”

“Guess not. But we’re still best friends.” Kyle shook his head. Above everything else, they were friends. “Maybe… Super BoyFriends?”

“Y’know what? I kinda like that.” Stan’s arm that was over Kyle’s chest rose to his face, hand cupping his cheek. His hand gently forced Kyle to turn to look at Stan. His hand was comfortingly warm. “You’re cute when you’re red.”

“Thin fucking ice, Marsh.” Kyle threatened, but he was sure he looked about as scary as a rabbit. “Not feeling nauseous yet?”

“C’mon, I outgrew that years ago.” Stan scoffed. “Let that die.”

“I’ll take it to my grave.” Kyle placed his hand on the hand Stan had on his cheek. “You’re warm.”

Stan lightly pinched Kyle’s cheek, earning an annoyed punch on the shoulder from the redhead. But Kyle let Stan’s hand stay, not wanting to swat it away.

“Dude, stop being so gay.” Kyle joked.

“Says the gay guy.” Stan shot back. Stan’s other hand somehow made itself to Kyle’s other cheek.

“You’re half gay. It still counts.” Kyle felt his cheeks redden even further. “And started dating your best friend.”

“I’m really doing that, huh?” Stan said wistfully. “I’m dating my best friend.”

“One of the gayest things you can do, so congrats.” For the first time since telling Stan, Kyle really looked at Stan’s face.

Stan looked happy, overjoyed in fact. He was smiling so wide that it looked like it hurt. Although, Kyle was in the same situation.

“So are we gonna go public with this or are we keeping it a secret?” Stan asked suddenly.

“Can we keep it a secret for now? We can tell other people later.” Kyle felt bashful all of a sudden. “Like after a few dates or something.”

“Hell yeah. Then we can walk into school and I’m gonna kiss you so hard.” Stan agreed.

“Might need a demo before we start thinking about that.” Kyle tapped his own lips a few times with his index finger. “Plant one right on me, loverboy.”

“You got it, Your Majesty.” Stan laughed, then leaned over to get closer to Kyle.

Then he stopped, their faces only inches apart. Kyle rolled his eyes, masking his excitement. Of course Stan would be a fucking tease.

“God, come here already.” Kyle reached out to grab Stan’s face with his hands. Then he pulled him close and kissed him.

A moment later, Kyle pushed him away. Stan’s eyes were unfocused, making Kyle laugh. When Stan’s eyes finally focused, he grinned.

“Didn’t peg you as the type to take charge.” Stan said after a beat of silence.

“Well someone has to. You were just staring at me.” Kyle looked away from Stan, unable to handle the intensity of his gaze.

“Not my fault you looked like that.” Stan smiled, taking his hands away from Kyle’s face. “Now go get changed. This is a pajama-only zone.”

“I’m changing in the bathroom so don’t get your hopes up.” Kyle got up from the bed and headed to Stan’s closet. He rustled through until he found his orange t-shirt and black sweatpants.

“Shame.” Stan simply said. Kyle flipped him off, leaving the room to go change in the bathroom.

As he closed the door behind him, Kyle looked at his reflection from the bathroom mirror. His face was almost as red as a cherry (curse his pale complexion) and his hat was knocked askew from Stan’s hands on his face. He looked away from his embarrassing appearance, changing as quickly as possible.

Kyle went back to Stan’s room, holding his old clothes. He tossed them into Stan’s laundry basket and watched as Stan threw his arms wide open, who was now under the covers.

“Are we good for cuddling? Because I wanna spoon the shit out of you.” Stan looked up at Kyle and he knew he couldn’t say no. Not that he wanted to anyway.

“Who says you’re the big spoon?” Kyle got into bed with Stan, facing his newly proclaimed boyfriend. It was a tight fit for two teenage boys if they slept shoulder to shoulder.   
  
“Because I’m better than you. Duh.” Stan shrugged. “Now turn around. As much as I like looking at your face, I don’t wanna fall off the side.”

Kyle groaned, turning over to face the other way. Then he felt Stan put his arm over him. He shuffled back, relishing in the feeling of Stan’s chest on his back. He told himself it was because it was cold outside and spooning was warmer.

“Goodnight, boyfriend.” Kyle said, trying out the title of boyfriend. He liked the way it sounded.

“‘Night, boyfriend.” Stan replied. Okay, it sounded a lot better coming from Stan.

Kyle had no idea what time it was but he didn’t care. He was giddy with excitement that after five years, he had finally told Stan how he felt. And to top it all off, Stan liked him back. Kyle closed his eyes, listening to Stan’s soft breathing behind him. Kyle’s heart was beating fast from how close Stan was sleeping and… oh. Stan’s heart was beating just as fast too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it, please drop a kudos and/or comment to give me some validation. I love reading comments because they make my day and give me enough serotonin for at least a week! Style is such a bro ship and I love the dynamic of best friends to lovers.

**Author's Note:**

> Started writing these in early July and I only finished them a few days ago. Drop a kudos or comment if you liked them, so I have something to run on for the next week or so!


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